Print Edition of The Observer for Wednesday, March 2, 2016

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Volume 50, Issue 103 | wednesday, march 2, 2016 | ndsmcobserver.com

Indiana Senate passes House Bill 1022 Legislation will mandate private university police departments to make records available to public

Students participating in Howard Hall’s signature event, the Lenten Chapel Crawl, w ill v isit 28 residence hall chapels throughout the liturgical season. The Chapel Crawl, which began on Ash Wednesday and continues through March 23, is lead

by Howard liturgical commissioners Marissa Brow ne and Emily Patton.

Throughout the Lenten Chapel Crawl, students attend pre-scheduled Monday through Saturday, and are instructed to attend their ow n dorm’s chapel mass on Sundays, Brow n said. There are no Chapel Crawl Masses from March 5 through March 12, due to spring break.

Patton said the goal is that participants w ill v isit each of the Universit y’s 28 undergraduate residence halls throughout Lent.

“During the Chapel Crawl, we schedule a Mass

NEWS PAGE 3

see CHAPEL PAGE 4

scene PAGE 5

were over 800 applicants this recruitment season, and Hlavin and Jamieson were accepted as two of the 47 fellows.

With the help of College alumnae, Jamieson said she was able to enter the extensive interview process with a better understanding of the fellowship. Jamieson had to prepare for activities such as an on-campus scouting

event, interviews with board members and interviews with four potential employers in one day.

“Saint Mary’s girls who are currently in the fellowship helped me to understand what exactly the fellowship is and got me excited for all the opportunities it offers,” Jamieson said. “They answered all my questions and helped me through the entire interview process.”

Hlavin said she is excited to join the Indianapolis-based startup company, Digby Home Automation, LLC. “I am really anxious to get to work,” she said. “Right now it is hard to have a ‘hands-off’ approach, especially since I will be joining a start-up where the beginning of the enterprise is where you’ll get the most raw experience and knowledge.”

Jamieson said she is looking forward to start her life in Indianapolis, working at CloudOne, a company dedicated to providing clients with a secure cloud network.

“I can’t think of a better fit for me post-graduation,” she said. “I am excited to enter the Indianapolis community

viewpoint PAGE 7

Men’s basketball PAGE 12

By ALLISON SANCHEZ News Writer

Saint Mary’s seniors Lauren Hlavin and Lauren Jamieson were chosen for The Governor Bob Orr Indiana Entrepreneurial Fellowship, a program that gives students the opportunity to join growing companies in Indianapolis and develop their business skills.

According to Hlavin, there

and become part of the Orr family.”

Hlavin said her time at Saint Mary’s for helping cultivate her abilities as a young entrepreneur, fostering her sense of creativity, innovation and independence. She said her professors and classes helped mold her into a well-rounded person.

“I have had endless leadership opportunities, which have pushed me to excel in

senior Saint Mary’s College

News Writer

for ever y day of Lent in a different chapel on campus, so that students have the opportunit y to attend Mass in ever y chapel,” Patton said, “It doesn’t actually work out that we get to celebrate Mass in ever y one, but for those we can’t schedule Mass in, we do a rosar y in that chapel as an opportunit y for ever yone to see all of the chapels during Lent.”

According to the Chapel Crawl Facebook Page, many residence halls’ signature Masses are included in the Chapel Crawl schedule, including the Howard Hall Monday night Muffin Mass, the Duncan Hall Tuesday night Donut Mass and the Dillon Hall Thursday night Milkshake Mass. A lthough all other residence hall masses are attended only once during the Chapel Crawl, Howard’s Monday night Mass is included multiple times.

“We’ve met a lot of people

Two Saint Mary’s students granted Orr Fellowships

Lauren Jamieson

Howard Hall hosts Lenten Chapel Crawl

By ANDREA VALE

LUCY DU | The Observer

see BILL PAGE 4

senior Saint Mary’s College

The Indiana Senate passed a bill on Tuesday to change state law surrounding the extent to which private university police departments are required to make their records available to the public.

House Bill 1022 passed was approved in the Senate by a 49-to1 vote, according to the Indiana General Assembly’s website.

The bill will return to the House, where it was approved unanimously on Jan. 26, for further consideration of an amendment proposed by Sen. Sue Glick (R-LaGrange) and passed by the Senate.

Police departments at private universities in Indiana are currently not required to disclose the same range of records as public police departments. In its original state, the bill would require private university police departments to release records relating to arrests and incarcerations to the public.

The amendment changed the bill to give individuals employed by educational institutions as police officers the same statutory immunities granted to a state police officer. It also redefined the situations in which a private university’s police department

Lauren Hlavin

Observer Staff Report

areas where I wouldn’t have naturally gone,” she said. “I feel confident and capable in my area of study, as well as others, thanks to professors and students who are above par in every way possible.”

Jamieson said the fellowship gives them the opportunity to interact and grow with other young business leaders. see FELLOWSHIP PAGE 4

fencing PAGE 12

2

TODAY

The observer | wednesday, March 2, 2016 | ndsmcobserver.com

Question of the Day: ndsmcobserver.com

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What was your reaction to Leo winning an Oscar on Sunday?

P.O. Box 779, Notre Dame, IN 46556 024 South Dining Hall, Notre Dame, IN 46556 Editor-in-Chief Margaret Hynds Managing Editor Business Manager Jack Rooney Cristina Gutierrez

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freshman Zahm House

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“Just look at my hair.”

“I was happy for my friends who were happy for him. Personally, I don’t care.”

Brady Matthews

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freshman Zahm House

sophomore Breen-Phillips Hall

“Finally.”

“I wiped my roommate’s tears of joy.”

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junior Zahm House

“He’s still soft.”

“It’s too bad for all of the memes out there.”

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Catherine Owers Andrea Vale Alex Winegar

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GRACE TOURVILLE | The Observer

Students gathered in the Knights of Columbus building on Tuesday to watch the results of Super Tuesday. The watch party was sponsored by College Democrats, College Republicans, BridgeND, ND Votes and the Knights of Columbus.

The next Five days:

Want your event included here?

Email news@ndsmcobserver.com

Wednesday

Thursday

Friday

Saturday­­­­

Sunday

Diversity Panel Oak Room South Dining Hall 6:30 p.m. -8 p.m.

Forum discussing diversity.

Mindful Meditation Coleman-Morse Center 5:15 p.m.-6:15 p.m.

Open to students of all faiths.

Edit-a-thon Notre Dame Center for Arts & Culture 6 p.m.-8 p.m.

Edit Wikipedia with ND Black Lives Matter.

Men’s Basketball vs.

NC State Purcell Pavilion 12 p.m.-2 p.m.

The Irish take on the Wolfpack.

Men’s Tennis vs.

Louisville Eck Tennis Pavilion 12 p.m.-2 p.m.

The Irish take on the Cardinals.

Men’s Basketball vs.

Miami Purcell Pavilion 7 p.m.-9 p.m.

The Irish take on the Hurricanes .

Iron Sharpens Iron Coleman-Morse Center 10 p.m.-11:30 p.m.

Fellowship for all denominations.

Graduate Student First Friday Dinner Coleman-Morse Center 6:15 p.m.-7:30 p.m.

All faiths are invited.

Hats Off to Reading Notre Dame Bookstore 10 a.m.-11 a.m.

Reading of “The Lorax” and sustainability discussion.

Chamber Music Concert DeBartolo Performing Arts Center.

2:30 p.m.-3:45 p.m.

“20th Century Masters.”

News

ndsmcobserver.com | wednesday, march 2, 2016 | The Observer

3

Speaker discusses women in stand-up comedy

By COURTNEY BECKER News Writer

Mary Beth Haralovich, a professor of theatre, film and television at the University of Arizona, spoke Tuesday on the progression of women in stand-up comedy in a lecture sponsored by the department of Film, Television, and Theatre and the Gender Studies Program.

Haralovich said as women’s roles have evolved throughout history, the type of comedy female stand-ups are able to perform has changed, as well.

“The kind of characters standup women can be changes over time with the historical circumstance,” she said. “This comedy expresses women’s experience and women’s history, and it opens doorways into our national, cultural heritage.”

Female comedy usually falls into one of three basic categories, Haralovich said, the earliest of which was a critique on the stereotypical housewife role.

“The first popular female comics are these housewife roles,” she said. “A performance about

domesticity, linking female comedy with the home and women’s identity as a homemaker, and I feel as if these women are a response to that old male comic shtick, which is ‘Take my wife, please,’ those kind of jokes.”

Haralovich said this comedy developed into a more neutral form of comedy, in which gender roles are not necessarily defined.

“The second type of comic riff is … the standup woman comic as a person, not especially gendered, but reaching across to kind of embrace the human condition,” Haralovich said. “She’s not necessarily self-defined as female, and she doesn’t necessarily do women-oriented characters or women-oriented comedy.”

The most common form of female comedy now, Haralovich said, is comedy about societal issues impacting women.

“The final comic riff is an exploration of what’s happening today,” she said. “These women today, they’re diverse women, they’re desiring women — they do comedy now about women’s desires, women’s sexuality — their voices

come from the margins, they’re not necessarily [the] mainstream housewife position.”

Haralovich said one challenge female comics have faced throughout history, and are still facing today, is needing to be ac-

“This comedy expresses women’s experience and women’s history, and it opens doorways into our national, cultural heritage.”

Mary Beth Haralovich professor University of Arizona

cepted by the male “gatekeepers” of the comedy industry before being granted access to an audience.

“There are performers, especially late-night TV hosts and industry executives, who grant access to the TV audience,” she said. “They allow this self-critical, self-demeaning character to have access to television audiences.

They invite the content of this comedy to enter into the mainstream discourse. … The gatekeepers also have a lot of power in the industry.”

Developments in television have allowed female comics to play a more active role in the field, Haralovich said.

“HBO is a significant force in allowing comedians and what they consider to be uncensored comedians,” she said. “On HBO, through paid subscription, viewers were able to see performers who were open to diverse sexuality and a diverse presence.”

Haralovich said this is important in recognizing that comedy is a profession for women as well as men.

“It’s a profession. They’re actual, working women,” she said.

“They’re creative professionals in the entertainment industry. They have the courage to do performance. … Their routines are, of course, they’re developed, they’re practiced, they’re worked through, but it’s still a live performance in front of strangers.”

Many of these women are choosing to create their own roles

instead of having men write roles for them, Haralovich said, allowing them to confront the issues they want to discuss.

“Stand-up women comics, they write their own parts,” she said.

“I just think it’s a wonderful opportunity for someone to express [herself], but also that can be really meaningful to people in the audience who are listening and learning from it.”

Haralovich said female comics are starting to call for change and address societal issues through humor.

“Stand-up women today, there are so many of them, and they’re social interpreters,” she said.

“Comedy has the power to confront restrictions, to confront stereotypes and to turn negativity into the joy of humor. I think that’s what is one of the greatest parts about all these women comedians. They joyful in their critique, they’re joyful in pointing out patriarchal systems of oppression, in pointing out conventions that affect women’s self-image.”

Contact Courtney Becker at cbecker3@nd.edu

SMC alumna starts body image campaign

By SYDNEY ENLOW News Writer

One Saint Mary’s alumna

has created a social media campaign to spur discussions on body image. Class of 2011 alumna Christina Grasso Paid Advertisement

is a junior advisory board member for Project Heal, a non-profit organization that provides financial grants to

those battling eating disorders who cannot afford treatment themselves. The organization announced the campaign titled #WhatMakesMeBeautiful to coincide with last week’s National Eating Disorders Awareness Week.

Grasso said her intention with the campaign is to encourage the idea that beauty is not a size, and she is thrilled to see her idea come to life. Project HEAL collaborated with photographer Arthur Belebeau on a photo shoot, featuring women of a variety of body types and backgrounds. The campaign’s goal is to encourage the initiation of conversations regarding female beauty and health.

“The inspiration behind this campaign was the frustration I have felt as someone who has worked extensively in both the fashion industry and in the area of eating disorder activism,” Grasso said. “I feel like these diverse experiences have provided me with a unique perspective on body image, especially when it comes to the messages we receive from mainstream media and other life sources. Past efforts meant to empower women by championing one body type over the rest have really missed the mark, because neither beauty nor health are a size. A woman is just as ‘real’ curvy as she is thin, as well as anything in between or beyond those labels.

One’s physical attributes do not determine a woman’s realness, or her beauty.”

Grasso said she believes the message is an important one

for both the women of Saint Mary’s and the Notre Dame community as a whole, and she is happy to be the one to start important conversations.

“I wanted this to serve as a catalyst for those kinds of conversations, because not only are they important and helpful, but also because deep connection is the avenue to seeing someone’s real beauty,” Grasso said. “While it can seem unfortunate that so many of us can relate in feeling inadequate or excessive or maybe even both, initiatives such as these show the impact of engaging in this dialogue and how much we can accomplish together being inclusive rather than exclusive.”

During her time at Saint Mary’s, Grasso said she was secretly battling an eating disorder but was able to overcome the disorder with the help of the friends she made while at the College. She said the acceptance and support she felt as an undergrad is the reason she was able to create the campaign.

“My years at Saint Mary’s really shaped me in to the strong, creative woman I am today,” she said. “It’s such a special place where young women are encouraged to explore their endless possibilities. The academics are competitive, yes, but I always felt that I was part of a community where women had each other’s backs — and that’s not always the case in everyday life.”

Contact Sydney Enlow at senlow01@saintmarys.edu

4

NEWS

The observer | wednesday, march 2, 2016 | ndsmcobserver.com

Chapel Continued from page 1

through it who’ve wanted to attend daily Mass during Lent, and so it’s kind of a cool way to meet people who share that commitment to their faith and also to see what Mass is like in other chapels,” Patton said. “For instance, we went to Welsh Fam Mass, and they have this totally unique

“Our hope is that people ... can come with us if they want to experience different Masses on campus.”

Emily Patton co-liturgical commissioner Howard Hall

vibe where they sit down on the ground and do Mass — and that’s something I never would have ever even known happens, so it’s interesting to see how the different chapels celebrate Mass.”

Browne said while coordinating all of the Masses to fit into a schedule to last through all of Lent was difficult, once the Chapel Crawl began this it has been a relatively easy event to run. Both

organizers encouraged all members of the community — not just Howard residents — to participate.

“It’s campus-wide,” Browne said. “We encourage everyone to join us.”

“We go to Mass together, but we also want to try at some point to organize a meal together with the people who have been coming to Mass,” Patton said.

Patton said she hopes for an increased participation in the Chapel Crawl as the event continues.

“We just want to get more people involved and give them the opportunit y to go to Mass ever y day w ith a group of people, if that’s something they’d like to do during Lent,” Patton said.

“One of the girls comes almost ever y day w ith us, and she says that she’d always gone to daily Lenten Mass w ith her father at home, and now she does it here.

Our hope is that people like that can come w ith us if they want to experience different Masses on campus.”

The daily schedule for the Chapel Crawl is available on the Howard Hall Chapel Crawl 2016 Facebook page.

Bill Continued from page 1

must make its records available to the public.

Glick said the amendment will likely address criticism that the bill does not require private university police departments to disclose enough information, according to the South Bend Tribune.

State Rep. Patrick Bauer (D-South Bend), co-author of the

Fellowship Continued from page 1

“I am looking forward to the curriculum that is offered and the opportunities I will have to expand my network and continue learning about myself and what path I want to pursue after my time with Orr,” Jamieson said.

bill, said in a previous interview with The Observer the purpose of the bill is to require university police departments to be more transparent with their public records. If passed, the bill would apply to Notre Dame Security Police (NDSP), the University’s private police force.

In January 2015, ESPN filed a lawsuit against the University after NDSP refused to grant an ESPN reporter access to campus police records related to student-athletes. The case, ruled

in Notre Dame’s favor by the St. Joseph Superior Court, was appealed by ESPN. Attorneys from both parties presented their oral arguments in the Indiana Court of Appeals on Wednesday and expect a ruling to be issued soon.

Bauer, a Notre Dame alumnus, said the bill is not a direct result of the ESPN lawsuit.

Rather, he said the bill stems from concerns raised by Indiana citizens, including many Notre Dame graduates.

Hlavin said the fellowship offers a “truly one-of-a-kind” experience. “ ... And to be amongst some of the top-tear grads of 2016 will undoubtedly be challenging yet extremely rewarding,” Hlavin said.“Each fellow brings a difference perspective, focus and form of creativity, which makes this an outstanding

opportunity for personal and professional growth.”

Hlavin said she is looking forward to her future as an Orr fellow.

“It has been a wild ride so far, and I cannot wait for the next Orr adventure,” she said.

Write News.

Email us at news@ndsmcobserver.com

Contact Andrea Vale at avale@nd.edu Paid Advertisement

Contact Allison Sanchez at asanch01@saintmarys.edu

5

The observer | wednesday, march 2, 2016 | ndsmcobserver.com

By MATTHEW MACKE Scene Writer

Going to the movies just isn’t what it used to be. If you wanted to see a movie in the early 2000s, you had few choices: 1) rent a movie at Blockbuster, 2) find a movie at the library or 3) go to the movie theater. Mom always complained about how expensive Blockbuster was, and my brother and I weren’t about to dig through the library’s pitiful collection of VHS tapes, so going to the movies was about the only option for our family. As a result, my parents were dragged along to a array of horrible movies.

My parents might never fully recover from “Spy Kids 3-D,” but as a society we’ve come a long way since then. Netflix and Hulu have placed thousands of hours of entertainment at our fingertips. Redbox has made obtaining a recently-released movie cheap and easy. Even my local library has amassed a sizable collection of quality Blu-rays. Add the fact that review aggregators like Rotten Tomatoes have become commonplace, and it’s easy to see why movie-watching has become a more accessible hobby.

It’s also easy to see why film studios are starting to sweat.

With all of those options, audiences are becoming more discerning in how

By JOHN AHN Scene Writer

From his Best Supporting Actor nomination in 1993 for “What’s Eating Gilbert Grape” to his Best Actor nomination for “The Wolf of Wall Street” in 2014, Leonardo DiCaprio has been no stranger to the red carpet, but no camera has ever before captured his walk onto the stage to receive an Oscar. His copious nominations without a single victory elicited a public frustration as millions of his fans cried for just recognition of his work.

As of Feb. 28, the wait is over — the 41-year-old won an Oscar for Best Actor for “The Revenant” in which he played Hugh Glass, an American survivalist battling against the elements after a severe bear attack.

This Academy Award is not an isolated achievement. The coveted golden trophy is tantamount to recognition for decades

they spend their entertainment dollars.

Theater attendance in 2014 was the lowest it had been since 1995 according to Business Insider. Last year attendance recovered slightly but still didn’t approach the heights of the pre-recession years. The theater experience is no longer enough to motivate cinephiles to spend $10 for a single movie ticket. That much money could get them a whole month of unlimited movies on Netflix these days. No, today’s prospective theatergoers demand quality more than ever.

Enter Rotten Tomatoes. The review aggregator was launched in 1998, but didn’t break into the public consciousness until the past decade or so. It strains down the vast spectrum of critical opinion into a single, easily-understandable rating endearingly called the “Tomatometer.” It’s an incredibly valuable resource for casual movie fans.

Problems arise, however, when the reviews start to matter more than the movie. Last year, movies like “Terminator: Genisys” and “Fantastic Four” fell far short of pre-release projections, owing in large part to the negative perception generated on Rotten Tomatoes and Twitter.

In an interview with the Hollywood Reporter, Paramount executive Megan Colligan said, “This was a summer completely designed by review and

word-of-mouth … I would actually hear people in the grocery store talking about Rotten Tomatoes scores.” According to a survey by BrightLocal 92% of the more than 2,000 people surveyed admitted to reading online reviews. On the night of the Oscars 700,000 unique visitors in the US alone checked Rotten Tomatoes. Over the last 30 days, the number of unique visitors worldwide added up to 24.9 million people. Almost 25 million people over the last month consulted Rotten Tomatoes to learn what critics thought about a movie or TV show. It’s no wonder that studios have started advertising the Tomatometer score on posters, trailers, and DVD cases.

With all this industry clout, reviews

by Rotten Tomatoes and others are more contentious than ever. In October 2015, the popular statistical analysis website FiveThirtyEight put movie review websites under the microscope and found some interesting results. The popular ticket seller Fandango blatantly inflated their movie ratings. Of the 209 movies that had 30 or more reviews none had a rating of less than 3-stars. When Fandango didn’t provide a satisfactory answer to this inexplicable, borderline impossible, finding the writer looked into the coding of the website. He found that Fandango rounded all reviews up to the nearest half star. So if you gave a movie a score of 3.1/5

of DiCaprio’s masterful craft: his iconic and swoon-inducing performance in “Titanic,” his fierce depiction of the cruel Antebellum South in “Django Unchained” and his candid reflection of the greed-driven corporate culture in “The Wolf of Wall Street.” This recognition of DiCaprio’s uncompromisingly impressive acting extends beyond a celebration of his work. The award shines light on how the actor uses his fame and influence to deliver a message greater than the movie industry, such as the urgent need for environmental activism.

During his career, DiCaprio depicted some of the characters we most cherish. He represented them truthfully, respectfully and convincingly so that they may live in the viewers’ hearts not as extensions of Leonardo DiCaprio the actor, but as vivid individuals with unmistakable identities. Some of his works have become cultural phenomena larger than themselves. For instance, his

performance in Christopher Nolan’s “Inception” has contributed to the film’s premise becoming synonymous with modern cerebral fiction. His depiction of Jordan Belfort as a ruthless, calculating, and dishonorable stockbroker in “The Wolf of Wall Street” has helped the film become an exposé of the faults that lie within the financial sector and wealth’s ability to breed corruption. The actor has even become one of America’s most beloved and iconic literary characters in “The Great Gatsby.”

Leonardo DiCaprio is not merely Hollywood’s profit driver, he embodies cinema’s ability to surprise, inspire and grow.

DiCaprio’s impact was furthered in his acceptance speech. During his long awaited moment of fame, he reiterated his support for environmental activism, a cause which he has publicly advocated throughout his career. He stated during the speech, “Climate change is real. It

on Fandango, your review would be displayed as 3.5/5 stars. While that doesn’t explain the lack of even lower reviews, it does demonstrate the tampering used to boost sales.

(As an aside, Fandango purchased Rotten Tomatoes and its parent site Flixster in February.)

While this intentional tampering may not affect every review aggregator, almost every website suffers from questionable methodology. IMDb reviews can fall victim to mob mentality and the anonymity of the internet. Metacritic encounters the challenges of assigning numerical values to reviews that use letter grades and deciding which critics to track. Rotten Tomatoes suffers from a binary rating system, where a universally decent movie can be rated better than a controversial one.

With so much money at risk, is it possible for Rotten Tomatoes and similar sites to remain impartial? Do these sites owe it to studios to withhold reviews until after the movie is released? Do they owe it to fans to release reviews as soon as possible?

Or is Rotten Tomatoes here to hold studios accountable and save us from “Spy Kids 3-D”?

Contact Matthew Macke at mmacke@nd.edu

is happening right now. It is a most urgent threat facing our entire species. […]

Let us not take this planet for granted.

I do not take tonight for granted.” Such a statement encapsulates the essence of DiCaprio’s contribution. Rather than using his considerable wealth for selfindulgence, he has fervently fought against issues that endanger humanity’s future prospects.

The Oscar is a suitable validation for DiCaprio’s life’s work in the cinema industry. Admirably, he created from this recognition a message greater than his performance — he demonstrated how fame can lend significant leverage for actors to advocate for crucial causes. With the recent announcement that DiCaprio will star in Martin Scorsese’s adaptation of “The Devil in the White City,” fans of cinema have reason to be excited for his future in film.

Contact John Ahn at jahn5@nd.edu LUCY DU | The Observer

6

The observer | WEDNESday, march 2, 2016 | ndsmcobserver.com

Inside Column

Put mental health first Wei Lin Assistant Managing Editor

Two of my dearest friends recently informed me of their decisions to take leaves of absence and push off graduation.

I wish they could stay and graduate with me, but that would selfish. Instead, I want to thank them so much for letting me know personally and also for taking such courageous steps. I’m glad they were able to confide in me and talk about the issues they were facing. I’m so proud they sought help when they needed it and made the decisions they made.

To those who are dealing with demons of their own, you aren’t alone. According to the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI), a third of all college students have reported prolonged periods of depression and about a quarter of all students reported having suicidal thoughts.

While these numbers change from survey to survey, one thing is clear: Mental health is a huge issue that many of our fellow brothers and sisters face.

To those who know of friends who are dealing with mental health issues, please reach out to them. Ask them how their day is going. Let them know that you’re there for them. Make sure that you are someone they can trust. According to Active Minds, a national mental health advocacy group, 67 percent of college students tell a friend they are feeling suicidal before telling anyone else. You may very well be the person they turn to in their time of need.

When my friend first told me she wanted to leave, I asked her not to leave, to stay, to graduate together. Thinking back, that was so selfish of me. In her time of need, I thought about myself and forgot momentarily about what was most important — her health.

After weeks speaking with faculty, staff and friends, she made her final decision. I was sad to hear this. I had so much planned for us during senior week. I thought we were going to take our graduation pictures around campus, have our last dining hall meal together, get each other stoles of gratitude, finish everything on our Notre Dame bucket lists, and of course, walk together. I will miss her, but I know she chose what is best for her.

Shortly afterwards, my second friend told me her plans to take a term off. The news took me by surprise, and I needed a moment to process it. In the end, I think I had already learned my lesson. Rather than ask her to stay and reconsider her decision, I told her I was happy for her. And I truly am. I couldn’t be happier to see her confront her problem and be at peace.

To these two beautiful, brave women I call my friends, I just want to say that while we might not walk together to receive our diplomas, I promise you that I will be here when you receive yours.

Contact Wei Lin at wlin4@nd.edu The views expressed in the Inside Column are those of the author and not necessarily those of The Observer.

The narrative of overcoming Elizabeth Hascher Dignified Response

In 2010, Facebook’s Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg gave a TED talk that addressed why so few women reach the top of their fields. She suggested that not many women can be found in the upper echelons of the business world because women do not “lean in.”

In other words, women are largely responsible for their lack of professional success. This misguided version of feminism emphasizes that being a woman may be a challenge, but it is one that women can overcome if they just put in a bit more effort.

Popular discourse on disability presents us with a similar theme: overcoming a disability. It is quite common to hear of someone who is disabled, either physically or mentally, being able to overcome their disability and rise above the difficulty that their difference causes in their daily life. The Huffington Post even has a web page devoted to such stories.

“You are a credit to your race” is a phrase that implies that people of color also have a problem to solve — that of not being white. This statement suggests that a person of color has managed to overcome the obstacle of not having a porcelain complexion.

These stories coalesce into a greater narrative of overcoming, which is more harmful to our discussion of these topics than it would initially seem. While at first, certain accounts may appear to be inspiring, we must look beyond them and consider their underlying implications.

We must question if it is appropriate to consider being disabled, a woman or a person of color as challenges that people should constantly be striving to overcome.

First, it is important to consider whether such a categorization is actually a problem. When we classify part of someone’s lived experience as a challenge, we unnecessarily impose a negative connotation upon it.

Their difference is suddenly something that must be cured, fixed or adapted to become more similar to the accepted norm.

This assumes that a person cannot live a happy, productive life if they are not an able-bodied white male who is perfectly healthy in almost every way.

Next, we must question what this narrative means

for those who are unable or choose not to overcome these challenges.

Consider someone who identifies as having a physical disability, for example. If we are to classify using a wheelchair as a challenge, what does that mean for people who will certainly have to use a wheelchair for the rest of their lives? What about those who cannot afford physical therapy which may bring them closer to being able-bodied?

The narrative of overcoming turns such people into perceived failures. It says that because they are not able to fix this aspect of their life that has been deemed a challenge, they have been defeated. This defeat is pervasive, characterizing many of their future endeavors.

This failure then becomes an all-consuming character trait. It defines the person as one-dimensional by reducing them to this one “failure” in their life.

We stop seeing them as a complex, multidimensional person with many different traits. Instead, they become a person only deserving of our pity. The challenge that they were unable to overcome has completely overwhelmed their life.

I do not mean to take away from the accomplishments of people who have worked hard to find ways to make their day to day lives easier and achieve things that are extraordinary for anyone. Rather, I suggest that it may be harmful to continue to build up and support the narrative of overcoming that is so pervasive in contemporary discussions of these topics.

Being able to overcome adversity is a great triumph and something to be celebrated. Of course, no one’s life will be without difficulty. We should be sure to cherish significant accomplishments in life.

However, we must be careful when considering what we will classify as problems and challenges in need of overcoming. While certain characteristics may put a person at a disadvantage in the world as it is today, this does not mean that a certain aspect of their lived experience is the problem itself.

Elizabeth Hascher is a sophomore from Grand Rapids, Michigan. She lives in Lewis Hall and studies political science with a minor in international development studies.

She can be reached at ehascher@nd.edu The views expressed in this column are those of the author and not necessarily those of The Observer.

Letter to the editor

A record-breaking Day of Man To the communities of Notre Dame and St. Mary’s, we cannot express how thankful we are.

While every year we are impressed by how Day of Man displays the generosity of this community, you have truly left us, all of Siegfried Hall and those at the South Bend Center for the Homeless, speechless with your efforts this year.

As of Monday, Feb. 29, between the cash and Venmo donations collected on Day of Man as well as checks and online donations, Day of Man this year has raised more than $20,500 for the South Bend Center for the Homeless.

This is by far our largest ever total and an increase of over 50 percent from last year.

While we organize this event, this sort of success is

not possible without all of you, and we cannot thank you enough for your support.

On behalf of the men of Siegfried Hall and the South Bend Center for the Homeless, thank you. Here’s to the next 10 years of being bold, being cold and fighting to end homelessness.

Alex Campbell

senior

Michael Hernick sophomore

Shane Jenkins

sophomore March 1

Join the conversation.

Submit a Letter to the Editor.

Email viewpoint@ndsmcobserver.com

The observer | WEDNESday, march 2, 2016 | ndsmcobserver.com

7

A good shepherd Ray Ramirez The Crooked Path

Folk drama is a tradition from medieval Europe that used staged presentations to convey stories and lessons generally drawn from religious teachings.

Begun at a time when the Mass, sacraments and ceremonies were mainly in Latin, these plays were presented in the local vernacular and allowed the audience to participate in the stories more personally than formal religion allowed.

The Mexican-American community in the southwest United States continued the tradition of religious folk dramas. Prime examples are the Christmas-time plays of “Las Posadas” and “Los Pastores.”

“Las Posadas” (“The Inns”), based on St. Lukes’s account of Joseph and Mary’s search for shelter, hews closely to the scriptural story, and is presented in many Catholic schools and parishes, typically as an opportunity to involve scores of children costumed as shepherds and angels.

“Los Pastores” (“The Shepherds”) is a more complicated play, following the journey of a collection of shepherds to the manger where Christ is to be born, and cataloging the efforts of Satan and the forces of evil to block mankind’s salvation.

The play includes subtle humor, such as when Lucifer tries to discover from one of the shepherds whether the Christ child has been born, and is frustrated by foolish answers resulting from the shepherd’s “misunderstanding” of simple questions. The play often uses local names, with props and costumes anachronistically echoing MexicanAmerican culture.

One version of the play was translated, edited and published by Carmelo Antonio Tranchese in 1949.

Years before, Tranchese undertook his own rambling journey as a shepherd, and wrestled with dark forces threatening his flock.

Tranchese was born outside Naples, Italy, in 1880. He entered the Jesuit order, studied in Naples and Malta, and completed his theological studies at St. Bueno’s College in North Wales. Ordained

in 1910, Tranchese began his missionary life in Albuquerque, New Mexico, before being sent to El Paso, Texas and San Jose, California.

In 1932, Tranchese was installed as the pastor of Our Lady of Guadalupe Church on the West Side of San Antonio, home for most of the city’s 85,000 Mexican Americans.

Working conditions and wages were pitiable, and housing was dilapidated and disease-infested.

Tranchese helped to establish a health clinic that taught disease prevention and offered free vaccinations and medical care. He championed efforts to improve working conditions and wages, and supported local strikes, soliciting provisions and establishing breadlines for striking pecan-shellers.

In radio addresses and newspaper columns, Tranchese noted that government regulated minimum standards for horse and cattle stables. He thought, why not be more concerned about the people, not just the animals, who suffer in squalid housing?

In order to address the nationwide crisis in housing, the United States Housing Authority (USHA) was established in 1937. San Antonio began its own housing authority later that year.

Tranchese was among the five city housing commissioners, and he immediately set about trying to improve conditions for his flock.

Tranchese helped to persuade the USHA and President Roosevelt to approve a major housing project, and in September 1937 the USHA agreed to fund the San Antonio housing program that included the Alazan-Apache Courts for Mexican-Americans.

Opponents of public housing, many of whom were already angered by Tranchese’s support of striking workers, threatened Tranchese’s life and slandered his character. Of the hundreds of slumlords that needed to be bought out, many demanded excessive compensation for what typically were little more than tin-roofed shacks with dirt floors, scrap-material walls and no indoor plumbing.

In response, the USHA administrator ordered the projects stopped in early 1939.

Tranchese, oblivious to protocol and filled with a foolish faith, appealed directly to Eleanor Roosevelt

when she visited San Antonio later that year. Work shortly resumed on the housing projects.

The projects, completed in 1942, contained multiple single-family dwellings, ranging from three to six-and-a-half rooms each, including private bathrooms and kitchens. The developed neighborhoods featured libraries, health clinics, and recreational programs.

The USHA required United States citizenship to reduce the applicants who far outnumbered the available units. The occupants of the AlazanApache Courts formed a tenants’ association to maintain the project, and their residences were judged by some observers to be “the best maintained housing project in the United States.”

More public housing was needed, but the emerging demands of World War II choked off funds and public housing development in San Antonio ceased until the 1950s.

Tranchese continued to push for more services and better housing. In order to keep his community informed and educated about church and local affairs, he initiated the first Spanish archdiocesan Sunday newsletter in Texas, La Voz de la Parroquia, which was circulated throughout parishes in the southwestern United States.

He continued to serve his parish and the people of San Antonio, and the once-reviled priest was now honored as “El Padrecito” — a priest of the people.

In 1953, he suffered a breakdown, and church officials sent Tranchese to Grand Coteau, Louisiana, to recuperate. He spent his remaining years there and died of a heart attack on July 13, 1956.

Tranchese surely felt a close kinship with the shepherds of “Los Pastores” — simple men on a journey to meet their redeemer, forced to fool and frustrate evil forces along the way. Faced with Satan’s deep and talented bench, we pray for more good shepherds to lead us.

Ray Ramirez is an attorney practicing, yet never perfecting, law in Texas while waiting patiently for a MacArthur Genius Grant. You may contact him at patrayram@sbcglobal.net The views expressed in this column are those of the author and not necessarily those of The Observer.

Letter to the editor

Trump is not a strong leader This past Friday morning, I turned on CNN and watched New Jersey Governor Chris Christie endorse Donald Trump for President of the United States. The reason for this endorsement, according to Governor Christie, was Trump’s strength.

“There is no one,” he claimed, “who is better prepared to provide America with the strong leadership that it needs, both at home and around the world, than Donald Trump.”

As a Republican, and as someone who has always had a deep respect for Governor Christie, I was shocked, disappointed and embarrassed. More than anything, however, I was confused.

I couldn’t help but ask myself: When did this idea that Donald Trump is the “strong” candidate take hold? At which moment did Governor Christie decide that Donald Trump is “tough”?

Was it back in 2006, when Donald Trump took an elderly woman to court (and lost) after she refused to let him use eminent domain to destroy her home and build a casino parking garage on top of it?

Was it on July 16 of last year, when Donald Trump referred to Mexican immigrants to the United States — men and women who risk everything in search of a better life for their families — as “criminals, drug dealers, rapists, etc.”?

Was it two days later, when Donald Trump said that John McCain — a United States senator and American Naval pilot who spent nearly six years

being tortured as a prisoner of war in North Vietnam — is “not a war hero. He was a war hero because he was captured. I like people who weren’t captured”?

Was it when Donald Trump mocked a reporter’s disability, when he made disgusting, sexist remarks about Fox News Anchor Megyn Kelly or when he proposed banning all Muslims from entering the United States?

The truth is, I’m not exactly sure when Governor Christie decided that Donald Trump was the “strong” candidate, but I have a feeling it was after January 27, 2016.

On that day, less than one month ago, Governor Christie sent an e-mail to his supporters commenting on Donald Trump’s refusal to participate in the upcoming Fox News Republican Debate due to his dislike of moderator Megyn Kelly.

“We cannot afford a president who will run away when things get tough or just because they don’t like the hand they were dealt,” Christie wrote, referring to Trump. “Let’s end this ridiculousness now and nominate a strong, mature leader who is ready to take on the tough challenges of the presidency.”

Governor Christie’s hypocritical endorsement of Donald Trump underscores a frightening development in our national consciousness. Somewhere amidst the absurdity of Trump-mania, we seem to have forgotten what true strength really is.

True strength is not unbridled hostility. It’s not

gloating over the latest poll or insulting your way through a two-hour long debate. True strength is humble confidence. It’s an unyielding respect for every person in our country and a firm desire to lead them through service, not bluster.

Despite all that was wrong about Governor Christie’s endorsement, however, he was right about one thing: This is the time for strength.

Our country faces serious problems: A failing education system, a growing racial divide and a Medicare program that risks insolvency within the next 15 years, just to name a few. This is the time for an executive who will lead with innovative ideas, not malicious rhetoric.

This is the time for a president who can unite the country, not one who is determined to divide it. This is the time for a truly strong leader, not a vitriolic demagogue.

In the words of America’s greatest fictional President and Notre Dame graduate, Josiah Bartlet: “This is the time for American heroes, and we reach for the stars.”

I will not be reaching for Donald Trump. Not in the primary election. Not in the general election. I refuse to cast my vote for the weakest candidate in the field.

Dawson Robinson senior Feb. 27

8

DAILY

The observer | Wedneday, March 2, 2016 | ndsmcobserver.com

Crossword | Will Shortz

Horoscope | Eugenia Last Happy Birthday: Be willing to listen and accept the inevitable. Show strength and courage regardless of what others do or say. Discipline will see you through any challenge you face. Choose to be creative instead of indulgent. Practicality and common sense with regard to health, wealth and love will help you gain steadily throughout the year and achieve the happiness you deserve. Your numbers are 9, 16, 23, 34, 37, 42, 46.

ARIES (March 21-April 19): Take your place at the top where you belong. Show everyone what you have to offer. Dig in and don’t stop until you are satisfied with your performance. A personal victory will require a celebration with someone you love.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20): Look for opportunities through people you have worked with in the past. Someone you thought was gone from your life forever will surprise you. Protect your money and possessions. Now is not the time to take a risk.

GEMINI (May 21-June 20): Stay one step ahead of the competition. Observe what everyone else is doing and be ready to step up your game and outsmart anyone who messes with you. Your charm and intelligence will make someone jealous.

CANCER (June 21-July 22): You’ll learn something valuable from someone who comes from a different background than you. You will be able to improve your relationships with others and your domestic environment if you are open to change and compromise. Let your imagination lead the way.

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): Pick up the pace, but don’t be too quick to part with your money. The more you can do for yourself, the easier it will be on your bank account. A serious suggestion involving someone you fancy will improve your relationship.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): Start a conversation with someone you find innovative. Together you will come up with a plan that can turn into a prosperous joint venture. Putting in hard work on a demanding project will pay off.

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): Go after what you want. Laziness will make you look bad and will not bring about the change you long for. Get with it and make things happen. Your charm and intellectual appeal will help you persuade others to pitch in and help.

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): Keep your opinion to yourself or you might regret it.

Spend your time doing something creative that encourages you to get out with friends who enjoy the same activities or events as you. Don’t pick a fight.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): Be careful when dealing with someone who is trying to manipulate your emotions. Make changes at home that will improve your life and encourage you to take on projects that will result in more comfort and convenience. Romance will enhance your life.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): Offer help when it is deserved. Don’t get sucked into doing something that will only prolong the inevitable. Use common sense and be prepared to walk away from any deal or request that will leave you at a loss.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): A change in how you earn your living or handle your money is favored. Don’t be afraid to walk away from a bad situation or a poor influence. Take control of your life and market your skills. Love is highlighted.

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): Negotiations aren’t likely to go in your favor. Bide your time and assess your situation. Preparation, along with gathering inside information, will be key to help you present what you’d like to see unfold. Don’t sell yourself short.

Birthday Baby: You are adaptable, aggressive and persuasive. You are unpredictable and trendy.

JUST ADD Water | John Roddy & ERic Carlson

Sudoku | The Mepham Group

Jumble | David Hoyt and Jeff knurek

Fling By Spring | Riley Mccurrie

Work Area

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Personal LOURDES YOUTH PILGRIMAGE. June 4-12, 2016. For more info visit 4Mary.org.

“It’s always around me, all this noise. But not really as loud as the voice saying. Let it happen, let it happen. Just let it happen, let it

happen. All this running around. Trying to cover my shadow. An ocean growing inside. All the others seem shallow. All this running around, bearing down on my shoulder, I can hear an alarm, must be morning. I heard about a whirlwind that’s coming ‘round. It’s gonna carry off all that isn’t bound. And when it happens, when it happens. So let it happen, let it happen.”

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sports

ndsmcobserver.com | wednesday, March 2, 2016 | The Observer

SMC TENNIS | SMC 8, St. francis 1; SMC 9, wittenberg 0

Sports Authority

Nicknames need improvement Marek Mazurek Sports Writer

Sports fans of the world, I speak to you today to bring your attention to a very large problem. This problem has plagued every league and it will only continue until we, as fans, demand change.

The problem: too many stupid nicknames.

Look around the sports landscape, and you’ll see what I mean. There are nicknames that make no sense.

There are nicknames that are lazy. There are nicknames that are offensive. And then there are nicknames that are just plain dumb.

In a day and age where we have awesome names for virtual reality units like Oculus Rift, we still have actual sports teams named the Pacers or the Clippers.

If you know what a Pacer is, please contact me, because I would like to know.

Same goes for the Nets or the Knicks or the Lakers … or the Chargers or the Mets or the Phillies or the Billikens. I know the Lakers have won 16 titles, but what lake are they named after, pray tell?

And even if you gave your team a made-up nickname, at least that’s better than being so lazy you named your team after a color. Looking at you Cleveland (Browns), Cincinnati (Reds), Alabama (Crimson Tide), Harvard (Crimson) and Cornell (Big Red).

Unless the Syracuse Orange are playing the Springfield Colorblind or the Grand Rapids Rappers, a color is a pretty dumb nickname.

But even a color is better than a racist nickname. The Washington Redskins is just plain offensive, and even the Blackhawks and the Fighting Irish are mildly racist as well.

And then, there are some that are just plain dumb.

We have two baseball teams named after socks. If you’re going to name a team after an article of clothing, use something exciting like the cumberbunds because socks are things I lose when I do laundry, not a baseball team.

Please recycle The Observer.

9

Oakland Athletics? Why not the Oakland Hand-Eye Coordinations? Montreal Canadiens and Houston Texans? How lazy can you be?

Also, New York, just a heads up, it’s not 1865 anymore. Yankees may not be the best name, and neither is the Rebels for that matter, Mississippi.

The one thing the Pacers and the Orange have going for them is originality. The nicknames mentioned above stand out because almost every other team in sports decided to go with some sort of animal.

In collegiate sports there are currently 76 teams with the Eagles as their mascot. Seventy six. There are 46 Tigers, 40 Bulldogs, 33 Panthers and 28 Hawks.

In the “big four” professional leagues there are two Cardinals, two Giants, two Rangers, two Jets, two Panthers and two Kings. If the point of a nickname is to give your team identity and pride, these ones fail miserably.

The good news is there are some teams that get it.

Nicknames like Buccaneers, Rockets, Avalanche, Diamondbacks and Patriots sound intimidating and ref lect the identity of the area the team is from. The WNBA excels at this as well, sporting mascots like the Fever, Mercury and Lynx.

Even more examples can be found in the realm of esports.

Regular readers of the Sports Authority know that I’m a big proponent of esports and nicknames are one reason for this.

Just some examples from League of Legends include the Immortals, Cloud 9, Renegades, Origen, Elements and — my personal favorite — the Unicorns of Love.

While the Lakers of Love is unlikely to become a thing, traditional sports need a nickname makeover.

Contact Marek Mazurek at mmazurek@nd.edu The views expressed in this Sports Authority are those of the author and not necessarily those of The Observer.

Saint Mary’s earns multiple wins to start year

By VICTORIA LLORENS Sports Writer

Playing at home, Saint Mary’s triumphed with back-to-back wins Friday and Saturday.

The Belles (3-1) defeated St. Francis, 8-1, on Friday night, winning all three doubles flights and five out of six singles at Notre Dame’s Eck Tennis Pavilion. The Belles followed their victory with a 9-0 win against Wittenberg the following day at Lakeland Athletic Club in Niles, Michigan.

Although Friday’s matchup finished as a blowout, the Belles found themselves behind early in the doubles portion of the match. Junior Sam Setterblad and freshman Monica Davy and sophomore Maddie Minaudo and senior Margaret Faller each attained 8-4 wins at No. 1 and No. 2 doubles, respectively, after trailing 4-3 on Friday. Junior Kaity Venters and senior Andrea Fetters also recovered from a 2-1 deficit to post an 8-3 win at No. 3 doubles.

Belles head coach Dale Campbell said his team worked well under pressure after trailing

at the start of their matches.

“They seem to be very composed and do a nice job of gradually escalating their games. They are strong mentally, and I haven’t seen many looks of desperation,” Campbell said. “They have mostly gone point by point and playing at a pace where they are prepared for most points.”

Saint Mary’s success comes not only from their doubles play but also from singles. The Belles claimed victory in five of the six contests Friday, and the women swept their competition with six singles victories and three wins in doubles Saturday. Campbell said having a dynamic team that can succeed in both singles and doubles play is valuable.

“We talk about coming out with energy early in doubles. Though we haven’t mastered that, I think that we are at least matching energy with other teams and figuring out how to win as we go along,” Campbell said. “In singles we talk about figuring out our opponents and what may work, so it seems though our team is trying to do that and succeeding to this point. We will take the progress

we are making.”

Saint Mary’s now travels to Florida for spring break where it hopes to continue building momentum against more talented teams, Campbell said.

“The back-to-back wins are great for our confidence, and I thought we could at least be where we are,” he said. “We will have some tough competition coming up in Florida, so we have to raise our games a bit more in the coming days.”

Campbell said Florida will be a chance for the team to continue building chemistry and developing their game.

“I think we will learn how we battle outdoors and perhaps in some windy, sunny conditions,” Campbell said. “We definitely get to know our team better over a five-match stretch, and they get to work with their teammates more as well. It’s a great trip to get us ready for conference season and also to get us ready for a variety of conditions and a variety of opponents.”

Contact Victoria Llorens at vllorens@nd.edu

SMC GOLF

Belles look to build on fall success in new season

By JOE EVERETT Sports Writer

After finishing near the top of the conference in the fall, Saint Mary’s now heads into its spring season with high expectations.

The Belles finished third in the MIAA and placed fourth or higher at seven of their eight competitions in the fall, including a pair of first-place finishes. Because of their strong finish in conference play during the fall, the Belles will compete this spring against Hope, Olivet and Trine for the conference’s automatic qualifier to the NCAA tournament. For Belles head coach Kim Moore, earning that automatic berth to the NCAA tournament is a top focus for her team going into the spring season.

“We met our goal to get into the top four in our conference this past fall,” Moore said.

“Now our goal is to win our conference’s NCAA bid and make it to nationals as a team.

I’m more confident than ever that this group of girls can get it done, and that makes me so excited.”

At a glance, Saint Mary’s will return eight players this spring with two studying abroad.

The Belles had five players

with a scoring average better than 90 in the fall, led by seniors Sammie Averill and Katie Zielinski. Moore said the Belles must rely on both their veteran leadership and talented youth this spring.

“We have lost two important players to our team this spring due to them going a semester abroad, so everyone on our team will have to really step up, but I am confident we have the players who are up to that challenge,” Moore said. “This group of girls is very tight and have some really lofty team goals in mind. They are really going to push and challenge each other this season. I think if they continue to do that we will have a really successful spring.”

The Belles saw regular and consistent improvement from the whole team as the fall season progressed, evidenced by their continually dropping scoring average. The team is led

by Averill, who became just the eighth golfer in program history to earn MIAA Most Valuable Golfer accolades for posting the lowest adjusted scoring average. The senior also earned All-MIAA First Team honors in addition to her season medalist recognition, and Moore said she expects more of the same from her senior star this spring.

“[Sammie] is coming off her best individual season as a Belle, and one of the best individual seasons in program history, so I’m really expecting a lot of big things from her,” Moore said. “She has worked hard athletically and academically over the off-season, and I am really expecting her to use her successes from this past fall to help give her confidence this spring.”

Moore also mentioned junior captain Courtney Carlson, who is also coming off her best season this past fall, as another Belle who will have a large impact in the spring. “[Courtney] is one of the hardest, if not the hardest, working player on this team and her efforts this off-season [have] really started to show in our early practice sessions,” Moore said. “Her swing is really looking good, and her confidence is only growing. I am excited to see how she and the rest of the team do once we can start practicing outside on a regular basis.”

Saint Mary’s opens its spring season at the George Fox Invitational March 12-13 in Peoria, Arizona.

Contact Joe Everett at jeveret4@nd.edu

10

Sports

The observer | wednesday, march 2, 2016 | ndsmcobserver.com

M Bball Continued from page 12

for [the NCAA tournament].

It’s nice to have a really solid resume two weeks out from selection Sunday.”

Junior guard Demetrius Jackson also stressed the importance of getting a doublebye and cited what it did for last year’s team.

“Just having a feel for what it did for us last year,” Jackson said. “We had the time to go over some things as a group and re-collect, and I think that helped us going into the tournament.”

The next hurdle for the Irish is the home matchup against the Hurricanes (235, 12-4). The two teams have already faced each other this year, with Miami beating Notre Dame, 79-70, in early Februar y. Brey said having already lost to the Hurricanes should provide the team with extra motivation.

“I think you’re a little bit familiar, and I would think there’s a little chip on our shoulder because they thumped us pretty good down there,” Brey said. “We didn’t have much of an answer for them. They’re a heck of team. They’re old, they’ve been together, they’ve won together. They’ve pointed to this year as being their

M Lax Continued from page 12

an early shot in the possession, we just weren’t hav ing the best opportunities.

“Against Detroit, we fought for really good shots, or great shots we should say.

year. And they’re playing for a regular season championship, and we’re playing for a double-bye so [there is] a lot on the line Wednesday.”

In order to knock off Miami the second time around, Brey said the team has to focus on finding an offensive rhythm.

The Irish have been one of the most efficient offenses in the country, but have failed to score 70 points in three consecutive games.

“I think we have to get back to offensive stuff,” Brey said.

“Passing the ball, getting guys in better positions and stressing breakdown drills. ... Our offensive efficiency will have to be back in gear.

That’s who we’ve been as a program. That’s what this team has been.”

Junior guard Steve Vasturia said defensive improvement would be a key to Wednesday night’s matchup as well.

“I think [Miami has] a lot of weapons,” Vasturia said.

“They’re really athletic, they can get to the rim. Last game, we had trouble guarding them. They did whatever they wanted to offensively. We’re going to have to do much better keeping them out of the paint and off the glass.”

Another factor that should help the Irish is the home crowd. The Irish are 13-1 this season at home, including wins over No. 8

North Carolina and No. 11 Louisville.

“We’re really comfortable, especially being back home,” Jackson said. “Our crowds have been great this year. ...

W hen you’ve got a big crowd behind you, supporting you, that’s really energized us this year. We just try to use it to our advantage and go out and

compete.”

Notre Dame has also seemed comfortable bouncing back from losses. The team has not lost two games in a row this season, and Vasturia said he was confident that trend would continue.

“Anytime you lose, you want to get back out on the

court as fast as you can and get that bad taste out of your mouth,” Vasturia said. “And that’s definitely what we’re going to do.”

The Irish tip-off against the Hurricanes on Wednesday at Purcell Pavilion at 7 p.m.

We always talk about that in practice. I think we did a really good job of working the ball and not settling, getting the best shot possible.”

The Irish outshot both their opponents last week by significant margins. Against Detroit though, they were 14-of-39 on shots taken,

giv ing them a 36-percent shot percentage. Wy nne said the Irish are looking to improve that percentage moving for ward. “[Stick work] was a point of emphasis as well as our six-on-six offense [during film Monday],” Wy nne said.

“We’ve done a great job in

transition thus far, but I think our standard offense is what we need to improve on, getting our shot percentages higher.

“Like I said, we need to focus on taking the great shot, not the good shot, and [head coach Kev in Corringan] said all that comes if you have good stick work. Stick work is the major part to focus on, and after that, it’s focusing on settling dow n and taking the great shot.”

Mar yland heads to California after losing, 8-5, to then-No. 7 Yale on Sunday. Freshman Austin Henningsen, who was recently named Big Ten CoFreshman of the Week, won 13-of-16 faceoffs against the Bulldogs, advancing his faceoff record to 22-of-28 (.786) on the season. The Terps have also seen strong performances from junior attack Matt Rambo, who notched four points against Yale and became the 49th player to record 100 points

in the school’s histor y.

W hile both the Irish and Terps have seen impressive performances from their indiv idual assets, Wy nne said it’s not about the solo effort.

“Ever yone’s attitude on the team is that we know we have so many weapons, so we’re not concerned about the solo effort,” Wy nne said.

“It’s about just doing your job, and if that results in you hav ing a hell of a game, then that’s awesome, but if not, it’s OK. Sometimes if I don’t score that much, we have other players that have awesome games. It’s really about ever ybody being ready to execute their job ever y single time they step on the field so that whoever has the best opportunit y to exploit a defense can do so.”

Notre Dame and Mar yland face off at the Pacific Coast Shootout in New port Beach on Saturday at 8 p.m.

CAITLYN JORDAN | The Observer

Junior guard Demetrius Jackson pushes the ball up the court during Notre Dame’s 71-66 over Louisville on Feb. 13 at Purcell Pavilion. Jackson contributed to the win with 27 points and five assists.

Contact Marek Mazurek at mmazurek@nd.edu

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Email Zach at zklonsin@nd.edu GRACE TOURVILLE | The Observer

Sophomore attack Mikey Wynne shoots during Notre Dame’s 14-5 win over Detroit on Feb. 27. Wynne tallied six goals during the game, bringing his season total to nine. He also added an assist in the win.

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ndsmcobserver.com | wednesday, march 2, 2016 | The Observer

Fencing Continued from page 12

us. We all want the same thing — those precious slots at NCAAs, whether as qualifiers from our region or as atlarge selections.”

The NCAA’s 2016 regional allocations allow for 27 fencers from the midwest region to move on to the final tournament. Last year, Notre Dame qualified the maximum number of 12 entrants from one school, and Kvaratskhelia aims to do that again.

“It’s difficult for me to single out any one person who will do best,” Kvaratskhelia said.

“My hope is that we fence well enough so that the choice of whom to send to NCAAs is in our hands, and that it will be a difficult choice. That’s the kind of dilemma I would be thrilled to have.”

The Irish have been competitive at the national level for several years now, but Kvaratskhelia said his team has made great improvements beyond that foundation since the start of the season.

“I’m very happy with our progression,” Kvaratskhelia said. “We’ve improved markedly since the season began in November. We’re capable of further improvement, and our kids are willing to put in the work to get there. The way we fenced at ACCs was almost exactly where we wanted to be heading into regionals.”

The Irish hope to take that momentum with them as they travel to Columbus next weekend for the NCAA midwest regional at Ohio State’s French Fieldhouse on Saturday..

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swimming & diving

Irish finish in seventh place at ACC championship

By MICHAEL IVEY Sports Writer

Notre Dame placed seventh overall at the ACC championship in Greensboro, North Carolina, over the weekend, finishing with 678 points.

Irish head coach Mike Litzinger said he was proud of the way his team competed as a unit.

“The guys did a tremendous job of competing and being a team,” Litzinger said. “That certainly showed in their performances, both individually and in relays. I am very proud of what they accomplished as a group.”

In the 400-yard freestyle relay, the Irish team of sophomore Justin Plaschka, junior Reed Fujan and freshmen Daniel Speers and Tabahn Afrik finished in second place with a finals time of 2:52.18.

North Carolina State won the event in 2:48.52. Among the other notable finishes for the Irish at the conference championships were sophomore Rob Whitacre, who finished in sixth place in the 200-yard backstroke. The Irish had four swimmers finish in the top

W Lax Continued from page 12

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11

her squad hasn’t worried where the scoring has come from, and she said the attacking balance makes her team hard to prepare for.

“Our point-getters — we’re not really focused on [where they’re coming from],” Halfpenny said. “But I know that as a coach when I face an offense that has ‘x’ amount of goal scorers about ‘x’ amount of points, it’s a little more difficult to come up with a game plan, so that’s exciting for us.”

That was in full force Sunday, when the Irish jumped out to a 6-0 lead on California before Fortunato scored her first of three goals.

Though Fortunato didn’t tally an early goal, Halfpenny said the junior’s contribution goes far beyond what she does in front of the net.

“Cortney does so much offball when you back and reel the tape off,” Halfpenny said.

“In those first six goals where she didn’t have a goal … her ability to get the ball back created a number of those on top of the fact that she assisted the first one.”

Notre Dame embarks Saturday on what rankings say will be its toughest stretch of the season, as a trip to No. 11 Louisville starts a four-game

14 in the 100-yard freestyle: Plaschka finished in seventh place after posting a 43.39 finals time, while Speers finished in 11th, and Fujan and Afrik ended up in a tie for 14th.

Junior James Lichtenstein finished in 13th in the platform diving.

The Irish broke two school records during the meet. One was the final time of the 400yard freestyle relay, and the other was Whitacre’s final time of 1:42.17 in the 200-yard backstroke prelims.

Litzinger said he was pleased at how every one of his swimmers was able to play a key role in his team’s finish.

“Every one of the 17 swimmers and two divers we took scored points and contributed to the success,” Litzinger said.

“That is very hard to do in our league. Now it’s on to the NCAA and a chance to show what some of our people can do on a national stage.”

Litzinger said Notre Dame’s 400-yard freestyle relay in particular could have an impact on how teams view the Irish in the future.

“There were many, but seeing our guys’ take second in

the 400 free relay was special,” Litzinger said. “I know that instance gave our team a label of being tough competitors, and to finish off the meet like that set a tone for the future that Notre Dame is ready to take on the challenge.”

Litzinger said there is still some room for improvement for his team leading up to the NCAA championship.

“We will go back to work, and we have an opportunity to sharpen our skill, work more on race strategy and focus on speed,” Litzinger said.

The NCAA championship takes place March 24-26 at the Georgia Tech Campus Recreation Center in Atlanta.

Litzinger said his team will be ready to face off against the best in college swimming.

“The men’s NCAA is simply the fastest meet in the world,” Litzinger said. “When I say that, I mean in terms of depth.

It’s not for the faint of heart.

Our guys need to step up and make a statement that they are there to compete, and I believe we will.”

Spring Break slate for the Irish.

Halfpenny said the Cardinals, who have also started 5-0 overall and 1-0 in the league, are better than most ACC outsiders consider them.

“This team thrives off of great competition, so it makes us excited,” Halfpenny said. “[It’s] definitely a big challenge ahead in a very, very solid Louisville team in my opinion that’s completely underrated by everybody outside of our conference.”

And as the Irish have raced out to a quick, dominant start, their continued climb in the poll puts a target squarely on their back for most opponents.

“I think that we talk a lot about, ‘We get everybody’s best game,’” Halfpenny said.

“And our focus is on us and continuing to add some pieces to each game because every game our opponents will have that opportunity to show a weakness of ours or maybe

find an area of ours where we need to get a little bit better.

So we’ve been able to go back to the drawing board, fix that, fine tune it, come back out.”

The Louisville contest starts a March slate that will see the Irish play four top-11 opponents in seven games: No. 6 Princeton, No. 7 Virginia and No. 2 Syracuse all visit South Bend in coming weeks.

“We’ll enjoy the 5-0 February but the reality is, March is coming in, going to come in hot here with Louisville, and we’re excited about that,” Halfpenny said.

After Saturday’s trip to Louisville, Notre Dame will travel to Blacksburg, Virginia, for games against Virginia Tech and Liberty on Monday and Tuesday before returning to campus for the showdown with Princeton on March 13.

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The observer | wednesday, march 2, 2016 | ndsmcobserver.com

men’s basketball

fencing

Irish to host Miami with ACC seeding on the line

ND to compete in midwest regionals

By MAREK MAZUREK

By MAUREEN SCHWENINGER

Sports Writer

Sports Writer

With their hopes of a double-bye in the ACC tournament up in the air, the Irish return to Purcell Pavilion to take on No. 7 Miami on Wednesday night.

After losses in two of its last three games, Notre Dame (19-9, 10-6) sits in a fifth-place tie in the ACC standings, one game behind No. 4 Virginia and No. 11 Louisville. To earn a topfour seed, the Irish need to win both of their remaining games. Irish head coach Mike Brey said he’s confident in his team’s positioning for both the ACC and NCAA tournaments going into the final week of the regular season.

“I love our position,” Brey said. “I love what we can play for in [Washington] D.C., and I certainly love our resume

Coming off a pair of ACC titles, Notre Dame gets set to take the strip for the upcoming NCAA midwest regional qualifier on Saturday, March 12, at the French Fieldhouse in Columbus, Ohio.

The men’s and women’s teams swept all honors at the ACC championships last weekend. Irish head coach Gia Kvaratskhelia said he was proud of his teams’ performance but said their focus on regionals is unwavering.

“As great as being ACC champs in both men and women is, it means nothing going forward,” Kvaratskhelia said.

“Our opponents won’t think about it, so why should we? I’m confident in our kids and staff to prepare so that we will do well at regionals.”

Kvaratskhelia also said he is not concerned about how spring break will affect his

see M BBALL PAGE 10

KATHLEEN DONAHUE | The Observer

Junior guard Steve Vasturia dribbles past a Louisville defender during Notre Dame’s 71-66 victory on Feb. 13 at Purcell Pavilion.

men’s lacrosse

Sports Writer

The Irish kick off their spring break in sunny Southern California this weekend, but they’ll still be working hard to keep their No. 1 ranking.

The top-ranked Irish (30) travel to New port Beach, California, to take on No. 8 Mar yland in the Pacific Coast Shootout on Saturday.

The last time the two teams went head-to-head was in 2014: Then-ranked No. 9 Irish topped the then No. 5 Terrapins (1-1), 6-5, in the ACC semifinals on April 24, 2014, before going on to beat them again, 11-6, in the NCAA semifinals one month later.

Now that the Terrapins are part of the Big Ten, Mar yland and Notre Dame haven’t met since. For the Irish, this week has been all about prepping for their former ACC rival.

“We’ll watch close to an hour of film on Mar yland,” sophomore attack Mikey Wy nne said. “We’ll go through the [scouting]

see FENCING PAGE 11

nd women’s lacrosse

Notre Dame ready for top-10 matchup

By KIT LOUGHRAN

fencers.

“Our kids are well-seasoned in terms of fencing competition,” Kvaratskhelia said. “They know what they need to do to prepare themselves. Our 20hour maximum time period does not apply over break, so we have complete freedom to work as long as we would like. That said, we’ll balance physical and mental work with recovery time to try and get everyone to their peak for regionals.”

The Irish will arguably face their toughest competition yet, including three top-10 teams.

“We respect every single person and school we will face next weekend,” Kvaratskhelia said.

“We know them all very well.

Our strongest competition as a team will be Ohio State on both the men’s and women’s sides, Northwestern on the women’s side and Wayne State, who has several excellent competitors.

“We know them, they know

Undefeated Irish kick off road trip at Louisville

report, run through their stuff and then practice.

Focus on what we’re going to do offensively against their defense and v ice versa.

“Then throughout the week, we’ll continue to watch film and gain knowledge on how they work, what sets the play and things like that.”

The Irish head to California after t wo consecutive w ins at home. They beat Bellarmine, 11-6, on Wednesday and then kept rolling w ith a 14-5 w in over Detroit on Saturday. It was Wy nne and junior midfielder Sergio Perkov ic who led the Irish, as Wy nne recorded six goals against Detroit, managing a hat trick before the end of the first period.

Perkov ic came close to that total, tally ing four goals.

“We really honed in and ran our offense [against Detroit],” Wy nne said. “The first two games we got away from running our offense, and whether it was someone dodging or someone taking

If one could only use a single word to describe No. 4 Notre Dame’s offensive unit, “prolific” might be a good choice. Among teams that have taken the field more than once this season, the Irish lead the country with 16 goals per game and feature the country’s leading goal-scorer, junior attack Cortney Fortunato.

And while Fortunato’s 19 goals would typically solidify her as the key to focus on when playing against Notre Dame (5-0, 1-0 ACC), she’s just one of four attacks on the team with 10 or more goals: Senior Rachel Sexton has 13, while junior Heidi Annaheim and freshman Nikki Ortega each hit double digits Sunday against California.

As the goals have f lowed in for Notre Dame this season, Irish head coach Christine Halfpenny said

CHRIS COLLINS | The Observer

see M LAX PAGE 10

see W LAX PAGE 11

Junior attack Cortney Fortunato looks to make a pass during Notre Dame’s 21-2 victory over California at Loftus Sports Center on Sunday.

By ALEX CARSON Associate Sports Editor